Ana

Eighteen

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A/N: Quick note, it may not happen like this, I can't remember exactly because I was at Tesco in Barrow-in-Furness (where Stanway comes from 😉) when it was announced.

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Wembley Stadium

Following months of deliberation and hard work, the Lionesses head coach and assistant manager had decided, along with the help of their backroom staff; on their squad for France

With the tournament two months away, the time had come for the announcement to be made to the public, with the Twitter feed for the team busy sharing the news while Phil waited to face the media once again.

Media Officer: "You're on in ten".

Phil: "Cheers".

Ana: "I hope these choices go down well with the public. I mean I think we picked a pretty good squad, it's players who have featured in the past camps and who have been in the set up for longer. There's no surprise call ups, no surprised absences, I think we're ready to go".

Phil: "I agree. Let's just hope the media think the same".

Ana: "They can't be too harsh surely? It's the first time you've picked a squad for a World Cup...".

Phil: "You can never tell".

Media Officer: "Alright, let's get going".

Phil: "I'll see you in a bit Ana".

Ana: "Enjoy".

The manager exits the room and the media officer follows, closing the door and leaving Ana alone with her thoughts. She gets up and paces the room, stopping to look out a few times as the office faces straight down Wembley way before returning to chair.

Relenting, the twenty seven year old pulls up Twitter and scrolls through journalists comments from the press conference.

@RichJLaverty: Phil Neville has just walked in looking very dapper in a suit, conference underway

@RichJLaverty: starts by thanking the press for coming down this early and then goes on to talk about the World Cup

@KiersTheivam: a host of former Sunderland players in this squad, makes you wonder why the FA reshuffled so early and took women's football out of the North East

@JoCurrie: obviously no Jordan Nobbs but across the board, a strong World Cup squad from the Lionesses

Ana continues to read until way past the end of the conference, looking at it from plenty of different angles before she's happy.

She's so engrossed that she doesn't even notice Phil come back into the room.

Phil: "You look busy".

Ana: "For fucks sake, you gave me a bloody heart attack!".

Phil: "Did you not hear me come in?".